The Nightmare Dilemma
by Dreamweaving
Summary: When most are in bed sleeping, Even is dealing with one of the many issues of child-raising. Good thing Aeleus seems to know how to handle it. Fluffy one-shot. Even, Aeleus and Ienzo-centric.


It was night time in Radiant Gardens. The only light was that of the stars twinkling in the dark sky. At this late hour most of the residents of the peaceful world were in their beds, fast asleep. Even was irritated by the fact that he had yet to join them.

"As I've told you before, it is highly illogical for something such as what you refer to as 'monsters' to exist. If you think about it from a scientifice view you'll find... Aeleus, _what_ are you doing?" Even gave the other man a critical look.

"He's _afraid_, Even." Aeleus responded, sitting on the edge of the bed, comforting what at first appeared to be a sniffling bundle of old clothes with a mop on top. Closer inspection found it to be a child, seven years of age, wearing pajamas that were several sizes too big for him. He rubbed at his eyes with the back of one hand-hindered by the sleeve once again unrolling itself to cover the hand-and leaned against Aeleus' arm.

"If you coddle him, this behaviour will never cease!" Even snapped, frowning. "I, for one, do not wish to be awakened every night to deal with this child's irrational fears!"

"You don't have to. I can handle it." Aeleus replied, rubbing the child's back gently.

Instead of soothing Even, this seemed to only further agitate him. He folded his arms over his chest and glared down at the young man.

"In case you've forgotten, Aeleus, Lord Ansem gave _me_ the task of looking after the boy. I am not one to shirk my responsibilies, as you well know. And I certainly think I can handle this situation on my own."

The child raised his head, untidy hair covering one eye while the other looked from Aeleus to Even almost fearfully. In his honest opinion he would prefer Aeleus to be the one to 'look after' him. For one thing, with the sheer ammount of muscle he had he was obviously better equiped to handle monsters. But more importantly, Aeleus didn't tell him to 'shut up already, your going to wake the whole castle with this nonsense' and then close the door to leave him in the dark.

"Your a very intellegent man, Even. But I think perhaps you don't know anything about children." Aeleus said, ever calm.

"And you _do_, I suppose?"

"Yes. I have five younger siblings back home. I've been through this before."

And for once Even didn't have a response. Certainly he could _read_ about the subject of raising children. But experience always outweighed theory and Aeleus apparently had some in this area.

"Well then, what do _you_ propose we do?"

Aeleus lifted the child effortlessly into his arms, settling him on his hip as he stood. "First, we show him there are no monsters here."

"I just told-" Even began.

"We _show_ him there are no monsters here." Aeleus repeated, firmly. And with that he walked to the closet door, pulling it open and reaching inside to pull the chain dangling from the ceiling. The closet filled with light to show it's contents. A few pieces of clothing hung from the rack and an old cardboard box full of papers sat in one corner of the floor. It was otherwise empty.

"See, Ienzo, no monsters here. Where else might a monster hide?"

The boy peered into the closet for several moments until he was satisfied that it contained no monsters. Then he pointed to the bed.

Even watched, silent and frowning as Aeleus carried the child over to the bed and set him on the floor. The man got down on his knees by the bed and lifted the edge of the blankets to peer underneath.

"No monsters here either." For emphasis he reached under and moved his hand around to show how monster-free the area was.

Ienzo nodded slowly before pointing to the window.

Aeleus rose and made his way to the open window to shut and lock it. "And now no monsters can get in."

Ienzo seemed satisfied with this as he crawled back into bed, stumbling a bit as the leg of his pajama pants slipped over his foot. Aeleus came back to the bedside and pulled the covers up to Ienzo's chin.

"Your safe here, Ienzo. I promise." He assured the boy with a little smile.

Ienzo nodded and offered a tiny, hesitant smile in return before closing his eyes.

Aeleus moved to the door. "Come on Even. And leave the door slightly ajar. A little light coming in from the corridor should keep him happy."

Even was quiet as he followed Aeleus out. He didn't want to wake Ienzo up and have to deal with him again. But once outside he made his disdain for the way the situation was handled be known.

"Why on earth did you indulge him? He'll only want the same thing all over again tomorow night."

"And what's five minutes of your time spent searching for monsters each night if it saves you being awakened from your sleep?"

"...I hate that you are able to make the most ridiculous things sound like perfectly _sane_ options."


End file.
